USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III > Part 71
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Iowa claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred in Sac City, February 10, 1888. He is the only son of Jonas and Nellie (Platt) Olson, both of whom have passed away. The father was a native of Stockholm, Sweden, while the mother was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. Jonas Olson came to the United States in young manhood and in Sac City, Iowa, met and married Nellie Platt. There they resided until 1901, when they removed to Idaho Falls, Idaho, where the father followed merchandising to the time of his death, which occurred in 1906. His widow survived him for but a brief period, passing away in 1907, just a year and a day later than the death of her hus-
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band. The only daughter of their family is Athyl C. Pettinger, now living at Idaho Falls.
Colonel Olson, the only son, was graduated from the Idaho Falls high school with the class of 1906 and in the fall of 1908 entered the Iowa State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa, in which institution he spent four years, pursuing the regular four years military and civil engineering courses. He was graduated on the 24th of May, 1912. During his high school and college days he was quite actively interested in athletics. From 1912 until 1916 he engaged in civil engineering at Idaho Falls and in June of the latter year went to the Mexican border as major of the Second Battalion of the Second Idaho Infantry. He spent seven months on the border, largely at Nogales, Arizona, after which he returned to Idaho. He was then stationed at the Boise bar. racks until June, 1917, when he was sent with his battalion to Salt Lake City to guard public utilities. Later he was transferred to Charlotte, North Carolina, and thence to Camp Mills, Long Island, which was the starting point for France. On active duty there for many months, he bore his full part in the strenuous warfare that brought victory to the allied army. After returning from France he was military instructor of cadets at his alma mater-the Iowa State Agricultural College-before returning to Idaho, where he assumed the duties of state highway engineer, in which capacity he is now most capably serving.
On the 22d of July, 1914, Colonel Olson was married to Miss Jane Hoffaker, of Idaho Falls. The Colonel is prominent in Masonic circles, being a Knight Templar and Mystic Shriner, and is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He stands as a splendid representative of the highest type of young American manhood and citizenship, belonging to that class of men whose patriotism was mani- fest not only in active service overseas but is also evidenced in devotion to the public welfare in days of peace.
JUDGE C. P. BUTTON.
Counted among the live real estate brokers of Canyon county is C. P. Button, for- merly of Dubois, Clark county. Idaho. Mr. Button has been a resident of Canyon county since the first of the year 1920, and during that time he has made many new acquaint- ances in the southwestern part of the Gem state. Prior to coming to Nampa county he was the probate judge of Clark county and also the well known proprietor of the Clark County Enterprise, which paper he established shortly after settling in eastern Idaho in 1914. For a long time before, however, he had resided in Idaho and his newspaper experience had taken him to various sections of the country.
He was born in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, September 20, 1879, and is a son of Edward and Sophia (Cornell) Button, who were also natives of the Badger state. The father followed farming in Wisconsin and afterward went to Montana, where he carried on ranching until 1915, when he removed to Clark county. Idaho, purchasing land near Dubois. This he has further developed and improved with the passing years. His wife departed this life in June, 1914.
Judge Button was reared and educated in Wisconsin and there learned the printer's trade. He has worked on some of the metropolitan papers of the country. He resigned his position of financial editor of the Milwaukee Wisconsin Sentinel to come to Idaho in 1907. He had previously visited the state, however, in 1905 and upon his return he settled in Bonner county, living at Sandpoint for some time. The publication of the Clark Fork Times next claimed his attention until 1912, when he left Idaho and went to Canada, becoming editor of the Morning Call at Medicine Hat, Alberta. After a few months he returned to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and accepted the position of financial editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel. But the lure of the west was upon him and he resigned in order to return to Idaho in July, 1914. He then established the Dubois Enterprise.
He continued the publication of the Enterprise until January, 1920, when he disposed of his interests in Dubois, moving to Canyon county. During the time of his activity in the newspaper field in eastern Idaho, he enjoyed an enviable reputation among the newspaper men as his publication was made a most successful one and was a power in the development of the territory wherein it circulated.
Not only is he well known in newspaper circles but also through his activity In connection with the public business of town and county. He was appointed United
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States commissioner in December, 1914, and occupied that position until leaving for his new home in Canyon county. In January. 1919, he was appointed probate judge of Clark county by Governor Davis. While in Dubois he served on the school board and the cause of education found him a stalwart champion.
On the 24th of December, 1899, Judge Button was married to Miss Sarah E. Bruce and to them have been born four children: Bruce, Janice M. and Jack, at home; and Bobbie, who died April 1, 1919.
Judge Button is also a valuable representative of the Masonic fraternity, being a member of the Boise Consistory and the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and Dramatic Order of the Knights of Khorassan. In these associations are found the rules which govern his conduct and shape his relations with his fellowmen, and the course that he has ever followed commends him to the confidence, goodwill and high regards of all who know him.
At the time of moving to Canyon county, Judge Button owned one of the finest modern residences in Clark county as well as other property interests which he then disposed of. He has since acquired a fine modern home in Nampa, where he is engaged in the real estate business, which has proven most successful.
ARTHUR GOODY.
Arthur Goody, a farmer of Lewisville, filling the office of county commissioner of Jefferson county, was born in Cache county, Utah, March 6, 1871, his parents being Arthur and Alzina (Myler) Goody, the former a native of England, while the latter was born in Farmington, Utah. The father came to the new world with a brother when but thirteen years of age, his brother being at that time a lad of eleven. They crossed the continent and took up their abode in the Cache valley, where Mr. Goody worked for his board and clothing through the winter months. As he continued his labors with the passing years he finally arranged the purchase of ten acres of land, which he cultivated until 1883. He then removed to Idaho, settling in Jefferson county, and filed on one hundred and sixty acres a mile and a half east of Lewisville. With characteristic energy he hegan the further development and improvement of that property and continued its cultivation for many years. Later he retired and rented his place, taking up his abode in Idaho Falls, where he spent his remaining days, his death occurring in January, 1914. The mother had passed away some years before, being called to her final rest on the 31st of May, 1906.
Arthur Goody, Jr., was reared and educated in Utah and Idaho, being a youth of twelve years when his parents removed to this state. He remained under the parental roof until he reached the age of twenty-two, when he purchased land near Lewisville and began farming on his own account. The tract, however, was covered with sagebrush when it came into his possession. He continued to add forty acre tracts to his original purchase until he was the possessor of two hundred acres, which he has since owned and cultivated. He bought out the heirs to his father's place and is now the owner of that farm of one hundred and twenty acres. He has been very successful in his agricultural interests, bringing his land under a high state of cultivation and obtain- ing therefrom a substantial financial return. At the time of his marriage he built a nice home in Lewisville, where he has since resided, it being located only a mile from his farm.
On the 7th of March, 1893, Mr. Goody was married to Olive M. Walker, a daughter of William H. and Mary J. (Van Velsor) Walker; the former a native of Vermont and the latter of New York. The father crossed the plains with ox teams in 1847, being one of the early colonizers of Utah. He was one of the volunteers who went to Mexico for the United States at the time of the Mexican war and after the cessation of hostilities returned to Utah, taking up a homestead, which he cultivated for many years. He finally removed to Lewisville, Idaho, in 1884 and purchased a residence, which he occupied throughout his remaining days, living retired from active business. He died January 9, 1908, at the advanced age of eighty-eight, and the mother passed away September 3. 1916, also at the age of eighty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Goody have become the parents of four children: Leora, the wife of Henry Thomson, of Lewis- ville; Dora, the wife of J. E. Erickson, also of Lewisville; Arthur J., nineteen years of age, who is at home; and Edwin L., also at home.
In November, 1918, Mr. Goody was elected county commissioner of Jefferson county.
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ARTHUR GOODY
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For sixteen years he had served as school trustee and was also a member of the town board for four years. He is the president of the Great Feeder Canal Company and his activities along these lines indicate the nature and breadth of his interests and the value of his work as a factor in the upbuilding of the community. He is now a stockholder in the C. A. Smith Mercantile Company, also in the Intermountain Farmers Equity. He readily recognizes the value not only of business enterprises but of opportunities for the development of the district and utilizes the latter just as readily and effectively as he does the former. His poltical allegiance is given to the republican party, while religiously he remains loyal to the faith in which he was reared-that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
ALFRED L. BONNELL.
Alfred L. Bonnell, a retail lumber dealer who is now local manager at Grace for the Anderson & Sons Company, having its headquarters at Logan, Utah, came to Idaho in 1910 and for the past six years has made his home at Grace, where since 1914 he has occupied his present position. He is not only the local manager for the company at Grace but also holds some stock in the parent concern. The story of his life is the story of earnest endeavor followed by substantial success. He was born upon a farm in Adams county, Wisconsin, October 9, 1873, the only son of David T. and Marilla (Butler) Bonnell, both of whom have now passed away. The father, who followed the occupation of farming, was born in New Jersey and was taken to Wisconsin by his parents when but five years of age. He spent the remainder of his days in Adams county, that state, where the family home was established during the period of its pioneer development. It was in 1853 that his father, Charles P. Bonnell, located there and for more than a half century thereafter the Bonnell family was closely associated with many interests relating to the upbuilding of that portion of the country. David T. Bonnell, putting aside business cares at the time of the Civil war, served at the front with the Thirty-eighth Wisconsin Regiment. In his later years he filled various civic offices, occupied the position of town clerk at Springville, Wisconsin, and at the time of his death, which occurred in 1902, was serving for the third term as register of deeds of Adams county. His widow survived him for about a decade, passing away in 1912.
Alfred L. Bonnell is the only survivor of the family, for his two sisters as well as his parents have passed away. He was reared upon the old homestead farm in Adams county, Wisconsin, to the age of eighteen years and during that period attended the country schools, acquiring a fair English education. He afterward taught a term of school and at twenty years of age he entered the University of Wisconsin at Madi- son, where he completed the agricultural course and was graduated with the class of 1896. For three years he was engaged in agricultural extension work in connection with the university, his duty being to instruct farmers along dairy lines, particularly on the subject of buttermaking. He later spent four years in Kansas City, Missouri, and installed a dairy plant near that city known as the Belton Jersey Dairy Company. He was subsequently for three years an instructor in athletics and manual training in the Kansas City high school. Returning to Adams county, Wisconsin, he spent four years as a farmer and lumber dealer and in 1907 he removed westward to Washington, where he resided for three years, engaged in the lumber business.
In 1910 Mr. Bonnell became a resident of Idaho. Though educated along dairy and agricultural lines, he found the lumber trade most congenial and through the period of his residence in this state has given his attention to the sale of lumber, becoming in 1914 the local manager at Grace for the Anderson & Sons Company of Utah. In this connection he is building up a good business, being recognized as a most trusted rep- resentative of the parent concern.
It was at Springville, Wisconsin, on the 27th of May, 1894, that Mr. Bonnell was united in marriage to Miss Nina Cummings, also a native of Adams county, Wisconsin, with whom he had been acquainted in their school days. Mrs. Bonnell was a teacher for several years prior to her marriage. She has become the mother of two sons and a daughter, namely: Russell H., who was born June 2, 1895; Lydia Ruth, born May 26, 1896; and Chester Perry, born January 1, 1901. The two eldest children are mar- ried. Russell wedded Ada Sant and Lydia Ruth is the wife of William H. Allsop.
Mr. Bonnell has always been a supporter of republican principles. He attained Vol. III-37
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his majority in October, 1894, and in November of that year was elected town clerk of Springville, Wisconsin. He served for five terms in that position and was also town treasurer of Springville for a year. At the time he removed from Adams county, Wis- consin, in 1907 he was serving as chairman of the republican county central committee and resigned in order to remove to the west. Since becoming a resident of Grace he has been active in the public life of the community and is now clerk of the public schools and the high school. In the fall of 1918 he was elected to the Idaho state legis- lature. To take this office required a considerable financial sacrifice on his part, as the remuneration connected with it does not by any means compensate him for losses which he must sustain in other ways. He did not seek the position but was urged to become a candidate by his fellow townsmen, who recognized his ability and fidelity to duty and felt that he would most loyally serve his district and safeguard its interests in the legislature. He is now chairman of the committee on cities, towns and other municipal corporations.
The Masonic fraternity numbers Mr. Bonnell as one of its exemplary members and he is likewise connected with the Knights of Pythias. He also belongs to the Grace Commercial Club, of which he is the president. His interest in war work has been manifest in many tangible and helpful ways. He became chairman at Grace of the Bannock County Council of Defense and also chairman of the public safety commis- sion at Grace. His labors along these lines indicate his public spirit and his devotion to duty, which none ever calls into question.
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J. HARRY HOPFFGARTEN.
J. Harry Hopffgarten, founder, president and manager of the Hopffgarten Adver- tising Sign Company of Boise, removed to the capital city from Spokane, Washington, in 1904 and on the 14th of October of that year founded his present business, which has flourished amazingly and has reached a degree of permanency and a point of success that merits its mention along with the best known institutions of the city. A sign painter by trade, having learned the business in his youth in Atlanta, Georgia, and followed it in other southern cities, Mr. Hopffgarten came to Boise as a sign writer but soon took up the advertising feature of the business and in September, 1916, incorporated his interests under the name of the Hopffgarten Advertising Sign Com- pany, of which he is practically the sole proprietor.
Mr. Hopffgarten was born in Augusta, Georgia, May 1, 1883, the elder of the two sons of Baldwin Hopffgarten, a jeweler by occupation, who died January 4, 1892, at Orlando, Florida, where he had lived for several years. The mother bore the maiden name of Marietta Bewan and now lives in Spokane, Washington.
J. Harry Hopffgarten left Augusta, Georgia, with his parents when but three years of age and went to Orlando, Florida. After his father's death the mother returned with her four children to Atlanta, Georgia, which had formerly been her home, and from the age of eight years the subject of this review spent his youth in that city, obtaining practically his entire education in Atlanta and graduating from its high school. He began to learn sign writing at the age of fourteen years and has followed the business as a life work. He was engaged in that occupation in Atlanta, Savannah and Columbus, Georgia, at Tampa, Florida, and at Spokane, Washington. For fourteen months he was superintendent of the Southern Brass Sign Works at Columbus, Georgia, and first embarked in business on his own account in Spokane in 1902, since which time he has been at the head of a business of his own. At Spokane he was a member of the firm of Jay & Hopffgarten, sign writers, and it was not until he came to Boise that he took up the billboard advertising feature of his business. The firm owns a system of bulletin boards of steel and galvanized iron construction which covers all of Boise and surrounding territory. Their wall displays cover Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Their business includes bulletins, wall signs, bill posting, distributing, wood letters and brass, electric and glass signs and covers everything in the way of outdoor advertising.
On the 10th of August, 1903, at Spokane, Mr. Hopffgarten was married to Miss Anna May Williams, a native of North Dakota, and they now have two sons and a daughter: Ralphı, born March 18, 1905; Ila, born February 7, 1911; and Howard, born October 31, 1912.
Mr. Hopffgarten is fond of fishing and hunting, to which he turns when leisure-
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permits. He is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In Masonry he has attained high rank. He belongs to the blue lodge, chapter and council; has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite; is a Knights Templar; a mem- ber of the Red Cross of Constantine; and is now chief rabban of Elkorah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise identified with the Woodmen of the World and the Improved Order of Redmen, and is a member of the Boise Commercial Club, which indicates his interest in those well devised plans and definite activities that have to do with the upbuilding and progress of the city.
JOHN E. KELLEY.
John E. Kelley, one of the prominent and well-to-do citizens of Shelley, and agricul- tural superintendent of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, is a native of Utah, born at American Fork, August 3, 1870. His parents, John P. and Elizabeth (Clark) Kelley, were natives of England, where the father was a farmer. He came to this country about 1858 and settled among the early Mormons of Utah, taking up his residence at American Fork, where he secured a tract of land which he improved and operated for the remainder of his active life, his death occurring in May, 1896. His wife survived him for several years, her death taking place at Shelley, Idaho, in May, 1913.
John E. Kelley was reared and educated at American Fork, Utah, and remained with his parents until he had reached the age of twenty, up to this time being engaged in helping with the work on his father's farm. On starting out for himself, he bought some land and also rented a tract, which he began cultivating, adopting modern agricul- tural methods and bringing his place up to a high standard among neighboring farms. He continued to work the farm until March 1902, when he removed to Shelley, where he acquired a tract of land, which he improved and has been operating ever since, his labors bringing him a nice competence.
Iu June, 1916, Mr. Kelley was offered and accepted a position as agricultural superin- tendent with the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, and has since been performing the duties of that responsible office with zeal and ability. Aside from his business assoclations, Mr. Kelley devotes a share of his time to church affairs. On August 13, 1915, he was made hishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and has been connected with the bishopric since 1902.
In August, 1892, Mr. Kelley was united in marriage to Mary Ann Oler, and they have become the parents of nine children, all of whom are living with the exception of one which died in infancy. They are named as follows: Ella, wife of Rodick Miller, who resides at Shelley; Milton J., who married Caroline Jensen of Rexburg and is residing in Shelley; Floyd G., now in Denver, Colorado, engaged in missionary work; Ruby, Sadie, Pearl Lois, Leona and Bernice all at home with their parents and one which died in infancy. The family are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and warmly interested in all its work.
For the past eight years Mr. Kelley has served as president of Snake River Valley irri- gation district and under his guidance the work has made rapid strides. He is also a stockholder and director of the First National Bank of Shelley. He is a warm supporter of the democratic party and ran for the office of county commissioner on that ticket but was defeated. Milton Kelley his eldest son, went on a mission to Australia, his work in that connection covering the unusually long period of two and one-half years. On his return to this country, in 1918, he immediately enlisted in the United States army and served about nineteen months. Floyd Kelley, the second son, also enlisted just before the signing of the armistice, in November, 1918. The Kelley family enjoy the respect and esteem of the community in which they have lived for almost twenty years.
ROBERT LOCKETT GRIFFIN.
The life labors of Robert Lockett Griffin were ended on the 5th of January, 1918, when he passed away at St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise. He had been a resident of the capital city for only two weeks but was well known in the northwest, having for ten years engaged in merchandising at Ontario, Oregon. He also had a wide acquaint- ance at Shoshone, Idaho, and in the vicinity of Jerome, having previously lived in
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Shoshone, where he engaged in business as a hardware merchant. He then went to Ontario, Oregon, where he was manager for the Standard Oil Company for two years. From 1916 he engaged in the sheep business, with great success up to the time of his deathı.
Mr. Griffin was born at Henderson, Kentucky, February 3, 1872, a son of William Lawrence and Frances (Lockett) Griffin, both representatives of old and prominent Kentucky families, there residing through several generations although of English descent. Mr. Griffin was a namesake of Captain Robert Lockett, his mother's brother, who served in the Confederate army during the Civil war with the rank of captain, and his father, William Lawrence Griffin, was also a member of the southern army during the Civil war.
Robert L. Griffin was reared and educated at Henderson, Kentucky, and when eighteen years of age came to the northwest. He was but six years of age at the time of his mother's death, after which he was reared in the home of his maternal grandfather. Following his removal to Oregon he spent several years in Malheur and Harney counties, where he was engaged in the cattle business with his two brothers. Later he located at Ontario, Oregon, where for ten years he conducted a clothing store, being numbered among the representative merchants of that place.
While there residing Mr. Griffin became acquainted with and wedded Katherine Lee Newman, a member of a family that for many years has heen prominent in southern Idaho in connection with the sheep industry, particularly at Shoshone, Jerome and Twin Falls. Mrs. Griffin is a daughter of Captain Henry Edward Newman of the Confederate States Army, who served with the Eighth Missouri Regiment under General Sterling Price. Captain Newman was born in Virginia and was one of the gold seekers in California in the early '50s. In 1886 he removed to Oregon, where he became connected with sheep raising, which he followed throughout his remaining days and in which he became prominent. Six of his sons also conducted extensive business interests along that line in the vicinity of Shoshone, Hailey and Jerome, Idaho, where they are yet located. The father, Captain Newman, removed from Oregon to Shoshone, Idaho, in 1904 and after that time he and his sons ranked with the prominent sheep men of southern Idaho. Captain Newman passed away November 1, 1908, when in his eighty-second year. He was married twice and became the father of twelve children, nine of whom are yet living. There were five of the first marriage and seven of the second. Mrs. Griffin was the fourth child of the second marriage, her mother's maiden name being Nina Kelso. She was a representative of an old South Carolina family that after the Civil war removed to Texas. Mrs. Nina (Kelso) Newman passed away in 1904. Sterling Price Newman, of Twin Falls, and Andrew J. Newman, of Shoshone, are half-brothers of Mrs. Griffin, while her own brothers are: Henry Edward and James William, of Shoshone; and Grover Cleveland and Plumer Kelso, of Jerome, Idaho. Mrs. Griffin also has a half-sister in Texas, Mrs. Mattie Griffith, and an own sister in California, Mrs. May Cartwright. To Mr. and Mrs. Griffin were born two children: Wynn Lockett, whose birth occurred November 14, 1904; and Katherine Mildred, born September 25, 1908. Mrs. Griffin was chiefly reared at Prineville, Oregon, and prior to her marriage was a teacher. She belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and to the Order of the Eastern Star. Her father had been a Master Mason for sixty-one years prior to his death, joining the order when twenty-one years of age.
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